The Big Bang Theory was a massive hit when it was on the air and, seven years after its conclusion, it's arguably considered one of the best sitcoms of all time. The CBS comedy ran for 12 seasons, and at one point, Big Bang Theory leads Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco were making a whopping $1 million per episode. When it came to the negotiations, though, it wasn’t as simple as one might think, especially the longer the show ran. And Mayim Bialik is weighing in on what the creator had to say about it.
The Big Bang Theory Cast Didn’t Want To Take Pay Cuts
While some of the Big Bang cast -- who'd been on the show since it began in 2007 --had hefty paydays, some other stars made lower amounts. A BTS fact about The Big Bang Theory is that the main cast took a $100,00-per-episode pay cut in 2017 so later cast additions Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch could get paid more. The actresses, who both joined in Season 3 before being upped to series regulars in Season 4, were initially getting $175,000 to $200,000 per episode before that ultimately jumped to $500,000.
It wasn’t easy, however. Per Parade, in series creator Chuck Lorre’s new memoir, Sitcom, the original cast was asked to take a 10% pay cut to make room in the series’ budget for Rauch and Bialik. As Lorre recalled, they were not too fond of the idea and shut him down fast. The prolific producer wrote that they “were outraged” that they were even asked, “in order to reward the two newer cast members.”
Of course, eventually, the pay cut did happen, and Rauch and Bialik were paid more, yet much has still been said about the cast's initial hesitation. In 2018, Forbes reported that Parsons was the highest-paid actor on TV at $26.5 million. Galecki, Kunal Nayyar, and Simon Helberg were right behind him. Additionally, they could make an incredible amount of money from reruns, thanks to syndication and streaming.
What Mayim Bialik Had To Say About The Situation
On her podcast, Mayim Bialik’s Breakdown, the Blossom alum spoke to Lorre about his memoir and all things Big Bang Theory. While she didn’t want to get too deep into the salary and negotiation aspect of the book, she did open up about learning some information she previously wasn't privy to:
You do also talk about some things around negotiation that was a very public thing… but I learned things about the negotiation that I had nothing to do with from your book. I learned all sorts of things. Educational. Surprisingly moving and educational.
TV-related negotiations can be complex, especially when a show is massively popular. It's interesting to hear that Bialik had no idea what was even going on, and it’s hard to imagine how different things would have gone had the pay cut not happened. Pay cuts on network TV shows have been happening a lot more frequently in this day and age, but those are more so a way of compensating for rising costs in a changing landscape. Whether that includes the cast, episode count, or even moving to a different network, such cuts can have varied impacts.
In The Big Bang Theory’s case, the pay cut seemed to have been ultimately worked out, even if the OG cast wasn’t initially on board. And, relatively speaking, the OG stars -- as well as Melissa Rauch and Mayim Bialik -- ended up making quite a bit of money. Fans can see the stars' work by streaming all seasons of Big Bang with an HBO Max subscription.
